Welcome to the Pentax Serial Number Database at PentaxForums.com! This database contains an ever-evolving listing of serial numbers for every kind of Pentax photographic item, including cameras, lenses, and accessories. Also I missed the last line of the post 5 reference regarding possible omission of serial numbers on late production of the metal models' The earlyphotography site shows a 'First model' Brillant camera with the serial number I599847 1936). So there is considerable overlap of model types and serial numbers.

The following is a collection of serial numbers for large format lens manufacturers. For the most part, the information has been culled from Wilkinson, Glanfield and Wrights' magisterial Lens Collector's Vade Mecum, a data base available on CD-rom. Other sources of information include web-pages and anonymous information passed down to me through others.

There is a real absence of information on large format lenses. Of the contemporary makers, only Schneider has made a great effort to provide information, the other lens makers have been less forthcoming. However Rodenstock serial numbers, the other major European manufacturer, have been posted by Kerry Thalman. There are a few web-pages, both official and unofficial, for other three manufacturers, Congo, Nikon, (Unofficial and Official) and Fuji,(also here). However, serial numbers are, to my knowledge, entirely lacking.

Zeiss no longer makes large format lenses, and consequently has little interest or incentive to provide this information. Goerz, and Ross are long gone, and Voigtländer exists only in name. Taylor, Taylor & Hobson is also gone, although its one time subsidiary, Cooke, has recently returned to the fold, and is now making a 4x5 portrait lens. In any case, none of these companies provides any sort of information regarding the lenses they once made. This page is a modest attempt to provide one form of information, serial number-year correspondences.

Caveat: While I would like to make this collection as accurate as possible, I cannot make any claims as to the accuracy of any of the information. If you find something which you find of questionable validity, please do not hesitate to contact me. Or, if you have any information on large format lens serial numbers, for the manufactures list above, or any other, kindly forward them to me, and I will attempt to incorporate them.

Compur

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. 2001. A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum, CD-rom Version 3F. Edited by A. N. Wright. Cornwall, UK: David Matthews Associates. Pages 65-66, Chapter 12

1912

2,700,000

250,000

3,200,000

1935
1920

3,750,000

500,000

4,250,000

1937
1925

4,850,000

750,000

5,400,000

1939
1927

6,000,000

950,000

6,200,000

1948
1929

6,500,000

1,150,000

7,000,000

1950
1931

7,700,000

1,800,000

8,500,000

1952
1933
From: http://www.sci.fi/~animato/lumiere/lumiere.html
450000
500000
600000
750000
850000
950000
1000000
1150000
1500000
1800000
2250000
2700000
3200000
5400000
.

Goerz American Optical Company

From Eddie Bolsetzian (former Goerz Tech.) provided by Michael Buchmeier, on the Large Format Home Page, More on classic lenses.

70001-1409351902-1903
150000-1901701903-1905
200941-2242671906-1908
223775-2266301908-1909
310001-3157341911-1914
315735-320000 1914-1918
751240-756909 1927-1937
7553001934
756910-7657301937-1945
765730-771199 1945-1948
771200-780169 1948-1954
791500 ~1955

.

Ross

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Pages 87-88, Chapter 11
1840
86,000
1918
1850
95,000
1921
1860
100,000
1924
1870
105,000
1925
1875
110,000
1927
1880
115,000
1930
1885-1890
120,000
1931
1890-1895
125,000
1933
1911
140,000
1939
1918
200,000
1947
1921
213,000
1946-7
1924
250,000
1960
1925

Free Serial Numbers

.

Taylor, Taylor & Hobson

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Page 71, Chapter 13
1001895
5,0001900
19,5001914
71,0001918
117,xxx1926-7
250,0001939
303,xxx1944
300,xxx1947
688,03x1965

Voigtlander Binoculars Serial Numbers Chart

Voigtländer

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Pages 6-9, Chapter 14
see also: http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/sn.htm
05/1840 First Petzval Portrait produced
1796-184?, Marked 'Voigtländer & Sohn in Wien'
Year
Year
4033139,108
1917
5000142,853
1918
10,000144,419
1919
27,449154,426
1920
30,000160,008
1921
31,000172,136
1922
32,000194,086
1923
34,000216,948
1924
36,000227,929
1925
38,000 - 39496248,505
1926
40,000279,710
1927
41,911365,562
1928
43,685537,338
1929
45,431671,174
1933
46,454803,220
1934
47,7711,026,690
1935
49,0842,000,000
1937
54,1682,718,530
1942
54,8962,700,000
1945
65,6913,000,000
1947
68,1933,220,000
1951
70,6823,300,500
1952
72,6383,461,400
1953
75,4793,600,000
1954
79,2883,731,000
1955
83,4774,001,000
1956
88,0574,303,000
1957
97,9994,514,000
1958
101,6494,802,000
1959
105,7785,033,000
1960
110,3475,473,000
1961
113,5695,900,000
1962
118,634 - 125,9756,219,000
1963
126,0016,423,000
1964
132,7266,664,222
1965
137,6829,999,999-10,000,150
1971
.
From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Pages 99-101, Chapter 17

Carl Zeiss Jena Serial Numbers
See also: http://home.sprynet.com/~stspring/Zeiss%20Ikon.html

Free serial numbers
Serial NumberSerial Number
Year
173,418-200,520903,100-908,150
1928
208,473-249,350919,794-1,016,885
1929
249,886-252,739922,488-1,239,697
1930
282,800-284,5001,239,699-1,365,582
1931
285,200-288,1001,364,483-1,389,279
1932
289,087-298,1571,436,671-1,456,003
1933
298,215-322,7481,500,474-1,590,000
1934
322,799-351,6111,615,764-1,752,303
1935
375,194-419,8231,674,882-1,942,806
1936
433,273-438,3611,930,150-2,219,775
1937
422,899-498,0062,267,991-2,527,984
1938
561,270-578,2972,527,999-2,651,211
1939
631,500-578,2972,652,000-c2,678,000
1940
631,500-648,5002,678,326-2,790,346
1941
666,790-703,1982,800,000- ?
1942
722,196-798,251

.

Carl Zeiss Jena, East Germany

1945-1949
3,200,000-3,470,000
1949-1952
1952-1955
4,000,000-5,000,000
1955-1958
1958-1961
6,000,000-6,000,0001961-1964
7,000,000-8,000,0001964-1967
8,000,000-9,000,0001967-1970
9,000,000-10,000,0001970-1975


Carl Zeiss (Opton), Oberkochen, West Germany.

10,000-500,0001946-1951
500,000-1,100,0001951-1953
1,100,000-2,600,0001953-1959
2,600,000-3,000,0001959-1961
3,000,000-4,000,0001961-1965
4,000,000-5,000,0001965-1969
5,000,000-6,000,0001969-1971
6,000,000-7.300,0001971-1975
  • 4Cameras
  • 5Zeiss Ikon / Voigtländer
  • 6Voigtländer (Rollei)
  • 7Intermediate period

Voigtländer (Germ. pronunciation 'FOYKT-lender') was one of the the world's longest-lived camera and lens makers. The brand is still used by other firms.

Bergheil Luxus 4×6.5 cm, c1911.
image by eBayer Yalluflex(Image rights)
1930s Perkeo
with Skopar lens
image by Uwe Kulick(Image rights)
1950s Vitessa
image by Alf Sigaro(Image rights)
1965 Ultramatic CS
image by Geoff Harrisson(Image rights)

Company history

Voigtländer was founded in 1756 in Vienna, Austria by Johann Christoph Voigtländer, as a scientific instrument maker. Voigtländer was an optician and inventor, noted for his work on mathematical instruments, and held letters patent (a state-protected monopoly, the forerunner of a Patent) from the Austrian government, granting an exclusive right to carry on that business. For example, Voigtländer invented instruments for linear and circular measure (i.e. to measure and divide distances and angles with great precision) which were used for calibrating surveying and navigational instruments including astrolabes.[1]
Voigtländer died in 1797, and the company passed to his widow and two eldest sons, Wilhelm and Siegmund. Another son, Friedrich Voigtländer, took control in 1808.
catalog cover (1915)
image by sunivroc(Image rights)
In the 19th century, Voigtländer made optical products including opera glasses and periscopic lenses. In 1840, the Hungarian Josef Petzval designed the innovative Petzval lens for Voigtländer. The lens, with the widest relative aperture of any then made (about f/3), was very successful for its intended purpose: the making of daguerreotype portraits.[2] The wide aperture allowed a very considerable reduction in exposure times. The lens' main limitation (it only covers a narrow field of view) prevented it being adapted for other uses (landscape, for example), but does not matter for portraiture. The design was widely adopted, and Petzval lenses were made for about the next century. Voigtländer also made cameras, including the first all-metal daguerrotype camera.
In 1849 Voigtländer built a branch factory in Braunschweig (Brunswick) in Germany under the name Voigtländer & Sohn, Optical Institute, and in 1862 the company moved its headquarters to Braunschweig. In 1898 the company, until then family-owned, became a public company (i.e. sold shares on the stock market, becoming Voigtländer AG).[3] By 1915 the company had outgrown its buildings and moved to new premises in another part of Braunschweig. Unsurprisingly, the company made some military products during the First World War.[4]
Voigtländer remained independent after the War, when hard times (due in part to the effects of War reparations on Germany's economy) caused some other firms to enter mergers. In 1920, Rudolf Heidecke and Paul Franke, employees of Voigtländer, left the firm to form Franke & Heidecke (their first camera, the Heidoscop, bears a striking similarity to Voigtländer's Stereflektoskop; Heidecke was a designer, and it seems likely that he either had rights to this design, or had Voigtländer's blessing to use it). In 1925, Schering AG (a chemicals company) bought a majority share in Voigtländer. The company expanded its premises again in 1929. It was in the period of Schering's ownership that many of the familiar Voigtländer cameras were made, including the first Bessa. Voigtländer again made military equipment (including but not limited to aerial reconnaissance cameras, binoculars and rifle scopes) for Germany's rearmament and the Second World War, but continued development of cameras at least up to shortly before the War itself; the Bessa 466 was designed around 1938 (Voigtländer's British patent for this innovative camera was finalised in 1940, actually during the War)! During this time parts of production were moved to the Wolfenbüttel district (still on the outskirts of Braunschweig), where prisoners of war were employed.
In 1956 Schering sold its shares in Voigtländer to Carl Zeiss.

Lenses

Lenses: Heliar (1902 variant), Dynar and Kollinear
(Image rights)
No. 9643
images by Siim Vahur(Image rights)
Tele-Dynar
images by Dirk HR Spennemann(Image rights)
Despite the successful early metal camera designed by Voigtländer, lenses were the company's main contribution to photography in the 19th century, and the success of Voigtländer's camera lines of the 20th century was based on the quality of its lenses. At the turn of the 20th century, Voigtländer had a branch office in New York, Voigtlander & Son Optical Co. (with no umlaut), advertising Voigtländer lenses like the Dynar for use with the better Kodak cameras.
While still in Austria, Voigtländer introduced the Petzval lens, which became a standard lens for portrait photography: Voigtländer's Petzval lenses were fitted to cameras of many makers. The lens has four elements, divided in two groups, the two front elements cemented, the two back elements just placed close to each other. The lens has a characteristic vignetting and curvature of field, but it made images which were very sharp in the centre. This and its wide aperture make it ideal for portraiture, though of little use for other photography; portrait photography was a big business, however.In 1900 Carl August Hans Harting, working for Voigtländer produced another fast lens, the Heliar, a symmetric lens, improved by him as an asymmetric design in 1902. Other fine lens designs of that time were the Dynar and Kollinear (later Collinear) lenses. During the 20th century the Skopar and Color Skopar lenses became the standard lenses for Voigtländer's own cameras. Voigtländer also made the Zoomar, the world's first interchangeable zoom lens, in 1959.[5]
The Voigtländer camera and lens age can be determined by the serial number on the lens. See this Voigtländer lens serial-number reference to date the original production year.

Lenses
See here for dating the serial numbers of Voigtländer lenses.

Shutters


Cameras

Early cameras

35mm SLR

Bessamatic
image by Rick Soloway(Image rights)

35mm RF, interchangeable lens

35mm folding

35mm fixed lens

Vito automatic
image by inetjoker(Image rights)
* Vito B, small or big finder

Numbers

120 box

Voigtländer Box
image by Carrot Room(Image rights)

120 folding

Bessa
image by Rick Zolla(Image rights)
Superb
image by Geoff Harrisson(Image rights)

120 TLR

127 folding

Folding plate cameras

VAG
image by Steve Harwood(Image rights)

Reflex cameras

Stereflektoskop 45x107
image by Geoff Harrisson(Image rights)

Stereo cameras

Voigtlander Binoculars Serial Numbers List

Other plate cameras

Zeiss Ikon / Voigtländer

35mm SLR

For the Icarex line, see Zeiss Ikon.
image by John Kratz(Image rights)

35mm fixed lens

126 film viewfinder

Voigtländer (Rollei)

35mm SLR

With 42mm screw lenses:
image by Nicodemus Roger(Image rights)
With Rolleiflex SL35 lenses:

35mm rangefinder

Intermediate period

35mm

image by Tony Kemplen(Image rights)

110 film pocket camera

Voigtlander Binoculars Serial Numbers Lookup

Cosina and Ringfoto

Long after the demise of the original Voigtländer company, the brand was re-used by Ringfoto and Cosina.

Notes

  1. ↑For example, Christie's in London sold a brass alidade by W. Voigtländer of Vienna (one of J.C. Voigtländer's sons) in June 2000. An alidade is a surveying instrument for measuring or marking the horizontal angle of sighted landmarks.
  2. ↑Greenleaf, Allen R. Photographic Optics. Macmillan, New York, 1950. p67-8.
  3. ↑Thus British Patent 18157 of 1897, Improvements in Photographic Objectives, is in the name of Friedrich, Ritter von Voigtländer, while US Patent 716035 of 1902, Lens, is in that of Voigtländer & Sohn Aktien Gesellschaft; both patents at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
  4. ↑For example, Voigtländer binoculars at PBase.
  5. ↑US Patent 2902901, Reflex camera varifocal lens, filed June 1958 and granted September 1959 to Frank Back personally, and German Patent 1094480, Pankratisches Objektiv für Aufnahme- und Wiedergabe-Zwecke (A Pancratic Objective for Taking and Projection), filed January 1959 and granted December 1960 to Voigtländer AG, citing Frank Back as the inventor; at Espacenet.

Links

In French :
In German :
Retrieved from 'http://camera-wiki.org/index.php?title=Voigtländer&oldid=201010'